Andrew James Elder was sentenced Thursday to a minimum of 11½ years in prison for a March 2012 robbery at the Dollar General store in Bridgeton.

Elder, 30, of Bridgeton, pleaded guilty to the robbery. He was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of 111-146 months in prison for the robbery and conspiracy charges, and 28-43 months in prison for the weapons offenses.

District Attorney Scott Thomas announced Elder was convicted upon his guilty plea with robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, possession of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of a firearm by convicted felon.

According to court documents and testimony provided during the trial of codefendant Samuel Lee Gaskins, on March 13, 2012, Elder was on pretrial release on unrelated charges, and was being monitored by a GPS ankle bracelet. Elder mistakenly believed that the GPS unit was turned off during the day to permit detainees to go to work. He used that time to meet with Gaskins and another codefendant, Ciara Roxann Ambrose-Lewis, to formulate a plan to rob the Dollar General store in Bridgeton.

Gaskins and Elder, armed with a shotgun and a pistol and wearing masks, robbed the store of $210 while clerks and customers were present. The two men ran from the store, stashing the weapons, masks and money in the Ambrose-Lewis’ van nearby. They then ran across U.S. 17 North to Elder’s waiting Jeep, according to court records.

Meanwhile, a customer of the Dollar General had just pulled up when he saw two men wearing masks entering the store. He pulled his car out of the parking lot and called 911. He then turned his car around, and when he did, he saw two men running in front of him across the highway. He watched them as they crossed, and saw a red Jeep immediately leaving their.

Law enforcement began a search for the red Jeep. As radio traffic increased, a Craven County sheriff’s deputy who administered the GPS ankle bracelet program realized that one of his detainees, Elder, drove a red Jeep. He pulled up Elder’s GPS history, and noticed that he had been at the Dollar General at the exact moment of the robbery. After passing this information on to fellow officers, a Bridgeton Police officer realized that Elder’s Jeep had been at Gaskins’ house near the police station earlier in the day, reports show.

Police obtained a search warrant for Gaskins’ house, and found weapons and masks, and the specific clothing worn by Gaskins in the robbery. The weapons were not the ones used in the robbery, but Elder is a convicted felon and was prohibited from possessing firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun.

Elder was located in New Bern and initially denied involvement, but after being confronted with the GPS evidence of his location during the day, confessed and implicated Gaskins and Ambrose-Lewis. Elder testified at the trial of Gaskins. Ambrose-Lewis has yet to be tried.

Page 2 of 2 - Gaskins was convicted on Aug. 22, by a jury after a four-day trial in Craven County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 13 to 19 years in prison.

The case was prosecuted in court by Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Adair. The case was investigated by the Craven County Sheriff’s Office and the Bridgeton Police Department.